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Both were laughable. Hyundai is on its way up, look at the demographics on buyers, mostly young. The word will get around, these cars are a great deal.
On another note, sign me up for the burnt headlight club, 15,000 miles, just lost the left one. The dealer says it's covered, I'll get it replaced tomorrow.
Jeff
On another note: I've just installed the air filter element in my Mom's GLS and mine is next up. The filter element is rather substantial and much more effective than what Toyota has in their Prius. It's well worth the money!
I also installed the full front bra to protect from flying stones and bugs during my monthly LA-Vegas trips. It fits very well and the materials feel substantial. Very easy to remove as well for the rest of the time.
The engine is finally broken in!!! 1900 miles and I LOVE it!
It is likely one of two issues:
Phase Alignment: If one of the two speakers is wired in reverse (positive signal to negative terminal and vice versa), it can do exactly what you are describing. Speakers that are out of phase will work very similar to noise cancelling headphones, bass will disappear and volume will reduce significantly. Check the connections of your speakers. If you ran new wires, make sure that they are correctly wired from source to speaker.
Baffle/Damping Issue: You mentioned that you had to use some custom technique to get your speakers to house in their locations. If the speakers are in phase and have no bass, you are suffering a wave baffle cancellation. Simply put, think of a gallon jug (one used for ice cream, but empty), if you take off the lid and smack it, it will make a noise, but the noise will be at a much higher pitch, and much lower volume than if you put the lid on the jug and smack it with the same force. The lid forms a sealed enclosure on the jug. Home speakers work the same way, most of the time, the major difference between a $200/pr of home speakers and a $500/pr of the same size is the enclosure tuning and materials.
Several products are available, but I suggest you find an adapter plate for your speakers and consider some of the baffle products available. There is a decent foam baffle that can be installed and fits the available space behind the speaker easily.
Generally, if you make sure that the seal is complete (no leaks or areas where the speaker can vibrate the surrounding material) it will improve the sound, creating an "infinite baffle."
Let me know if this helps. (Getting closer on a definitive answer to my speaker quest to see if MBQuart 7" speakers will fit in the car)
rear 6.75 in by the windows....
the gls/gt 4 door has 6x9's in the rear deck
Thanks!
That was what I thought. Every online car audio expert site has a different answer. Sadly, Crutchfield was the most accurate, but I am not a fan of their products.
I sent in an inquiry on the MBQuarts, they are listed as 7" separates (front) and 7" coaxs (rear) but they fronts show a E-Z rating for installation, so same should be true in back. If so, I should have new speakers within a week or two.
I am gonna have to spend the bucks for the install though, I am not as limber as I once was, and no garage in AZ heat means installing in 105 degree sunny days - no thanks. Let the insured pros do it, I say. I have cut enough knuckles and re-run enough speaker wire to last me a lifetime.
Why can't the OEM world get with it? I appreciate the cost-saving efforts, but junk is junk for me, and sound counts. I listen to most of my music in the car, it matters what the music sounds like.
Drove my GT up to Sedona this weekend, mileage jumped into the 30s, the car was very comfy during the 2-hour ride, and I was appreciating the cool AC.
Every day, I am appreciating my GT a little more. It is a slow courtship though, as my ex (the BMW) is still lingering in the wings with a sad look on it's face and a "For Sale" sign in the window.
Enjoy the ride.
Thanks for the info at any rate.
I hear you on having to watch your Bimmer sit with a For Sale sign. My beloved (but fatally expensive and unreliable) Audi Quattro gave me baleful expressions every time I walked by it in the garage for two months. I really am much happier with my GT though.
The only thing I really miss is the Audi's "let's go big guy" attitude toward Autobahn-class speeds. It really wasn't happy on the interstate at anything under 90 mph. The GT is perfectly capable of running at 100+ mph speeds, but doesn't seem to beg for them. Oh well, It'll probably save me some big-time speeding tickets!
The only drawback is that the OEM front speakers are so darned efficient compared to the Pioneers in the rear. So, I keep my fader setting adjusted toward the rear speakers and it sounds pretty good now!
I have a powered Bazooka sub (from YEARS ago) in my closet that I will try to install in the hatch myself, when I get some time! I also plan to install my 12-year-old Alpine AM/FM/CD head unit (also in storage) one day in the future to improve sound quality a bit (bass and treble controls on the Alpine are centered at better frequencies than the standard 100 and 10,000 Hz settings that most head units use).
I spent about 800-1000 on my stereo sytem (didnt install myself) and learned a lot in the process...the reason fronts are more powerful than rears usually is because quality stereos have a front biased soundstage.... the idea is to make it feel like the singer and the band is in front of you not behind you...the rear speakers are used for what is called "rear fill"
before i went whole hog with my system I had replaced the headunit with an aiwa CDC-mp3... (matched blue dash)... it had 50x4 max power but rms is 15-20wx4 sounded better with more power to speakers... then i went with the kicker RS6 fronts powered by a 100x2 rms wattage kenwood amp running off the kenwood headunit (x659)... ahhh... volume....but then I wanted to even it out a bit and added the kenwood rears and switcht to a kenwood 50x4 rms amp... fronts died down in volume a bit but tuning the amp correctly I can still get crisp clear LOUD sound from the kickers at a volume setting of 10 ( goes up to 50)
midrange speakers are exactly what they are called ... midrange... they are not supposed to handle bass... just the central frequencies... no highs and lows.... thats why I got the basslink..10" DVC sub (100w RMS).... to have the correct frequencies sent ot the right components my headunit and speakers all have crossovers that filter out frequencies above or below the setting I use...
hte stock headunit runs about 100 total watts max but is in actuality 10-15wx4 rms
If you like electronic music - jazz fusion, electronica, rap/hip hop, and most of the pop music made today - you are going to see sounds that can go down to 20 hz. Small speakers can smack these waves out, but not very well, and while they are trying, they will draw a great deal of power and often distort other notes while playing. You media also plays a role, a tape often doesn't even have the capability to record sounds below 40hz or above 16k. CDs can record from 5-20k, but most players play the 20-20k range. Radios broadcast in a limited range as well, though I forget the cut offs.
When you hear that deep bass thump from a car stereo (the kind that rattles windows), it is likely to have most of its amplitude in the 100-250hz range.
I like the authoritative punch of a sub, plus it takes the stress away from smaller speakers. Did you know that a 20hz wavelength is about the length of your car? (If I remember my training correctly.)
Sorry, I am getting all tweaky.
and yes, Hyundai OEM stereos are decent, better than most at the price, but all car makers have long ignored their option to design a system around the car that will rival home systems. Mostly because most people don't care, or don't care enough.
You should see the lengths that Mark Levinson went through while designing their system for the Lexus SC430. That was one of the only examples I can think of where the audio maker collaborated with the car designers WHILE the car was being designed and were allowed to spec the system out to their tastes...hence, an amazing, albeit expensive, audio system.
Little things would make a big difference. Enclosures for speakers, better placement for sound stage, better damping, thicker cable, OEM radios that came ready to accept aftermarket add-ons (subwoofer being the biggest one, just give us a low frequency, RCA output).
Even after I spent $1800 redoing my BMW system, the sound was only so-so. The biggest two reasons were damping/vibration issues and speaker placement. Putting the midrange speakers at the floor level (in this case, they are in the "kick panels) and then the tweeter all the way up by the rear view mirror does terrible things to imaging. Not to mention that the speakers placed in kick panels collect more dirt and debris than ones placed in doors.
With the hap-hazard way that speakers are "fitted" into modern car design, it proves that good sound continues to be an after-thought. The best system I ever had running in a car was my old Saab. Had 3.5" speakers in the front dash, pointing at the glass (factory location), 5.25" coaxs in the rear deck and a pair of 10" subs in the trunk, facing up.
The speaker locations allowed those small speakers to produce most of the critical sound information at the listener's head level, bouncing off the glass and not buried next to the driver's legs or under the dash. The sub allowed me to cut the low frequencies from the small speakers, keeping them very clean, and the 10" subs were wired in stereo (for a reason) and were tight and responsive, not boomy.
In fact, at volumes that would make you have to shout in the car, you could barely hear the stereo playing outside the car with the windows up. My idea of stealth and quality in car stereo design. All the extra waves were shooting into the sky above the car. I am sure that if you were floating about 20 feet above me, the boom-boom would have been very loud.
I say, bring back a 4" hole on the dash, give me a spot to add a center fill speaker if I want, angle in the rear speakers, and add a sub rather than flashy separates for the front. They look cool, but a sub is a better improvement than separating a coax.
My ideal would be very similar to the old Saab layout. In the meantime, I am not into custom jobs and spending a few grand to custom cut dashboards and run wires of equal lengths to all the speakers, etc.
I will work within the limitations they designed for me...and hope for the best...but the difference between tweaked sound design and a simple quality upgrade can be huge.
Ok, I think I am done geeking out on audio for today.
Ingtonge18: I tested the rear replacement before completing the installation. I left one side with the OEM speaker to compare. The OEM had better bass but very muddy mid and high. The replacement was just the opp. The foam insulation strip I ran on the edge of the cutout for the rear's eliminated any vibration and allows for clear sound at max. volume.
My ECHO had dash mounted tweeters and I really miss the sound quality of the OEM unit in that car!
My seat's leather is breaking in nicely and I've conditioned them about 4 times so far. They seemed very dry when I took delivery a month ago but seem fine now.
Anyone with any comments on the A/C filter re: usage life? The filter looks very substantial and dense...should be good for a year. I'm installing mine next week. My Mom's GLS has it already and love having it!
I prefer efficiency over power handling anyday, which is why my Klipsch Forte home speakers (97db @ 1 watt @ 1 meter) only require a 30-watt per channel amplifier to fill the room with deafening sound!
Pardon me for digressing!
The spray for cleaning the windows isn't great though.
At work this week, we had a thunderstorm drop some marble to grape size hail. As I stood at the front door with my coworkers, watching potential doom descending on our cars, they gave me a hard time about how the "cheap Korean sheetmetal" on my Hyundai was going to take a beating. Now these guys drive Porsches, Mercedes, BMW's, even a Ferrari, so I'm used to catching disparaging remarks. But I was proud to see that my GT came through it just fine. No damage at all.
Niels
As far as variable speed intermittent wipers go, my Elantra's range of wipe speeds is the best I've seen!
Also, I have enjoyed the performance of Bosch wipers in the winter, spring and fall, but once the summers here in TN hit the upper 90s, they haven't fared so well for me (warping!).
Thanks, enjoy the ride.
thanks
thansk
Where do I get the fumito and are there different sizes?
car report: hit 1000 miles this weekend, car is averaging 32 miles with AC on and freeway driving, about 25 in the city. Phoenix heat wave has us plastered with 102-109 days for the last 14. The AC comes in good, much better than my last car, but can just barely overcome the heat of the sun beating down.
Still wishing that they would offer the GT in white or a cream metallic (like they use for the Sonata).
The rear gear is not a problem, was concerned with it's engagement, but it has just been a learning adjustment, not a fault of the car. I haven't had it slip since that first week.
Last gripe, trying to find some seat covers, but having issues with the side air bags. Anyone suggest a good seat cover that can protect my seats and not heat up so much, black leather under AZ sun is not a great mix.
Planning to spend some bonding time with Chianti this weekend, a nice wash and wax.
<http://www.fumotovalve.com>
I have the valve without the nipple. My drain pan is tall so there is no problem. If you use a short drain pan buy the valve with a nipple and connect a hose. Click this link and scroll down for pictures:
<http://www.gwebworks.com/elantra_gt/garage.shtml>
http://www.newcartestdrive.com/review-intro.cfm?ReviewID=1301
Feel free to email me if you have any questions about our policies. Please do not address this matter with me here. And now back to the subject of the Hyundai Elantra GT. Thanks!
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Wagons Boards
My in-town mileage is hovering around 23mpg right now. Love my GT!
Also, do not push the filter element in too hard. The only rigid side of it is the front part (plastic) so if you push too hard it starts to fold up like an accordian. As long as the front of the element is flush with the housing, it should be fine.
Great pics, btw 5port!
First, the service person said that the paint job is not covered by the 60,000 miles bumper-to-bumper warranty and that it was limited to 36,000 miles. Since my car has 44,000 miles, the paint job would normally not be covered. He then asked how long this had been happening. I told him that the paint had been doing this for several months, but I hadn't had the time to come it since I work 55+ hours a week.
He then told me that he would have to speak with his "regional rep" to see if he would be willing to extend the warranty to cover my paint problem.
The next day, he said that his "regional rep" had looked at the car and said he thought the paint issue was due to road debris, even though he could see the paint bubble around the chips in the paint and refused to cover it.
So, I now get to drive my Elantra around with an ugly bumper! Great advertising for Hyundai paint quality, huh?
I guess I am most upset with the fact that they considered extending the warranty and then some "regional rep" somehow decided I was lying about how the paint was chipping. Insulted me in the extreme!
This experience has made me wonder if I ever want to buy another Hyundai in the future.
I noticed something that was not on the GLS I test drove a while back. The windshield on this GT had the window tint on the top band along with the dotted area above the rearview mirror. Is this new or for GT's only?
I have now had my GT for a month and I truly like this car as much as any car I have had. It has such a nice blend of "luxury" features in a utilitarian package that I feel like I snuck away with a steal of a car! I like the way the car drives and looks and it feels very solid.
Not sure about the window tint, but someone here is bound to know.
Good luck.
p.s. If it's any consolation, my sister encountered a multitude of problems with her 00 Honda Odyssey and had to deal with a jerk regional rep too. The dealer knew her by first name and agreed the car had way too many problems but it was the regional rep's decision to claim it a lemon. She had to fight him for a year (he went so far as to state she was imagining noises and never returned her calls) before Honda finally agreed to buy it back. The difference was, her car was actually under warranty. If they play hard ball that much while under warranty, I can imagine how tight they are out of warranty.